Located 1/2
mile East of Platteville on Weld County Road 32 in Township 3, Range 66,
Section 18. The Platteville Mizpah Cemetery
is the oldest public cemetery in Weld County that is still in use. It
is operated by the Town of Platteville. Originally called the Sandhill Cemetery
by the pioneers, it was renamed Mizpah Cemetery after 1926. In 1926, the Mizpah Club made the improvement of the cemetery their
club project. With the club as a driving force, cemetery improvement became a community
project. Trees, shrubs, and grass were planted as money became available. A WPA project in 1939 fenced the cemetery and installed the first rock
gateway. The second rock gateway was built and dedicated to the memory of the area
servicemen who lost their lives in World War II.
An unknown person is the first recorded burial, the first named burial was in 1873.
Persons
associated with the nearby fur trading posts and Fort Vasquez may have been buried
on the hill as early as the 1840s. A local folklore heroine named Rattlesnake
Kate is buried in Mizpah Cemetery. One day in 1925, she killed 140 rattlesnakes on her way to a pond with her son. The snakes
were collected and the skins were used to make a dress, which she wore to many functions.
Her story is on file with the Platteville Pioneer Museum.

Centennial State Chapter would especially like to
thank Will Penfold for the hard work on his Eagle Scout project reading and
transcribing inscriptions on all the stones.